Seattle – King County Metro’s April Fool’s Joke?

WHAT: Press conference unveiling the bus ad rejected by King County Metro, with action at low wage workplaces immediately following

WHERE: Westlake Park, 4th and Pine

WHEN: Thursday, April 2, 11:15am

WHY: A bus ad to educate workers about the minimum wage increase sponsored by Councilmember Kshama Sawant, Teamsters 117, Unite Here Local 8, IBEW 46, Casa Latina, and 15 Now has been rejected by King County Metro on the basis that it promotes Councilmember Sawant as a candidate for office.“Workers in Seattle deserve to know that the minimum wage is rising, and who to call if they have questions about it,” remarked Stefan Moritz, of the hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE Local 8. “Everyone agrees that education and outreach is an important component of enforcing the new law. This is what we are trying to do,” he added.

Seattle has a history of passing progressive laws that aren’t enforced, like the paid sick leave ordinance.

“Unfortunately the City’s outreach so far has been insufficient, that’s why we’re a part of this coalition to educate workers and make sure they know their rights and get paid the wages they’re due. Anyone who looks at this advertisement can see it’s educational and not an election ad. We simply put the logos and names of those in the coalition and those who have paid for the ad campaign, as Metro asked us to do. Let’s hope this is an April’s fool joke so we can move forward with this important effort,” added Jess Spear, Organizing Director of 15 Now Seattle.